Category Archives: 07.29.16

“When the Chevalier d’Eon left France in 1762, it was as a diplomat, a spy in the French king’s service, a Dragoon captain, and a man. When he returned in July 1777, at the age of 49, it was as a celebrity, a writer, an intellectual, and a woman – according to a declaration by […]

A St. Petersburg woman complained to city officials that the statue, erected outside a local exhibition on Michelangelo, “spoils the city’s historic appearance and warps children’s souls.” In response, the public has been invited to submit sartorial suggestions, with online voting to select the best idea.

“From 1883, the year the Metropolitan Opera was founded, until 1986, the company went on extensive annual tours across the United States with occasional excursions abroad. … The scale of the Met tour, with orchestra, chorus, soloists, scenery and costumes, was massive. The typical mode of transportation was by train. In the first season, the […]

“Measuring a whopping 62 by 23 feet, the mosaic’s faded tiles appear to be part of what was once a baths complex … The mosaic has suffered some damage, but you can still make out hints of the challenging tasks Hercules had to perform as a kind of penance after murdering his wife and children.”

“Sic transit gloria disci.” Mark Obert-Thorn reminisces about the unexpected finds, the in-store appearances by musicians, the passionate sales clerks, and the discussions with other customers in what was, not so long ago, one of the best cities for classical record shopping in the country.

“In the realm of ‘jukebox’ musicals, it is king, drawing from a plethora of baby-boomer smash hits created by such legendary groups as the Supremes, Temptations, the Jackson Five, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Throw in Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, and the potential is limitless.” The problem? The man behind it all.

“During O.J. Simpson’s famous, slow-speed police chase in the summer of ’94, Domino’s Pizza reported record-breaking pizza sales. (According to the same company, not a single person in the entire country ordered a pizza from them during the five minutes the Simpson verdict was read out the following year.)”

“Benefiting from the cross-pollination of regions and genres, these collaborations can introduce the featured artists to new audiences, with rappers and crooners crossing over among dance-pop aficionados. But the producers are pulling the strings and rightly taking much of the credit.”